Preventing interference between primary and secondary content in a stereoscopic display

ABSTRACT

A method of positioning primary and secondary images on a stereoscopic display device involves ascertaining a perceived depth of the primary image and the secondary image; transforming the perceived depth of at least one of the primary and secondary image data by compressing the perceived depth of the at least one of the primary and secondary image data; and transforming at least one of the primary and secondary image data so as to position the perceived secondary image at a position that will be perceived by a viewer to be situated at a depth when viewed on the stereoscopic display such that the secondary image appears to be situated fully between the primary image and the viewer when viewed stereoscopically. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

This application is related to and claims priority benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application 61/153,720 filed Feb. 19, 2009 toJean-Pierre Guillou which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

BACKGROUND

There are a number of known ways for user interfaces (UI's) to interactwith visual content on a display such as a television display. Forexample, the UI may be somewhat transparent to permit the viewer to viewthat which is beneath the UI, or the UI may be placed in a window or boxthat covers the screen. Commonly when a UI is present it will have anarea of transparency that allows the user to see both the UI and thecontent. However, the issues surrounding how to deal with a UI when atelevision display or the like is displaying stereoscopic display hasnot been explored to any known extent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain illustrative embodiments illustrating organization and method ofoperation, together with objects and advantages may be best understoodby reference detailed description that follows taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a representation of an overhead view of a stereoscopic imageas displayed on a stereoscopic display panel in a manner with certainembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a representation of an overhead view of a stereoscopic primaryimage as displayed on a stereoscopic display panel with a twodimensional secondary image.

FIG. 3 is a representation of an overhead view of a primary stereoscopicimage as displayed on a stereoscopic display panel with a twodimensional secondary image placed closer to the viewer than the primaryimage in a manner consistent with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a representation of an overhead view of a primary stereoscopicimage as displayed on a stereoscopic display panel with a twodimensional secondary image placed closer to the viewer than the primaryimage, with the primary image scaled away from the viewer in a mannerconsistent with certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a representation of an overhead view of a two dimensionalprimary image as displayed on a stereoscopic display panel with a twodimensional secondary image placed closer to the viewer than the primaryimage in a manner consistent with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a representation of an overhead view of a two dimensionalprimary image as displayed on a stereoscopic display panel with a threedimensional secondary image placed closer to the viewer than the primaryimage in a manner consistent with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an example implementation of a processconsistent with certain embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail specific embodiments, with the understanding that the presentdisclosure of such embodiments is to be considered as an example of theprinciples and not intended to limit the invention to the specificembodiments shown and described. In the description below, likereference numerals are used to describe the same, similar orcorresponding parts in the several views of the drawings.

The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one or more thanone. The term “plurality”, as used herein, is defined as two or morethan two. The term “another”, as used herein, is defined as at least asecond or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as used herein,are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled”, asused herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly,and not necessarily mechanically. The term “program” or “computerprogram” or similar terms, as used herein, is defined as a sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a computer system. A “program”,or “computer program”, may include a subroutine, a function, aprocedure, an object method, an object implementation, in an executableapplication, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an object code, ashared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a computer system.

The term “program”, as used herein, may also be used in a second context(the above definition being for the first context). In the secondcontext, the term is used in the sense of a “television program”. Inthis context, the term is used to mean any coherent sequence of audiovideo content such as those which would be interpreted as and reportedin an electronic program guide (EPG) as a single television program,without regard for whether the content is a movie, sporting event,segment of a multi-part series, news broadcast, etc. The term may alsobe interpreted to encompass commercial spots and other program-likecontent which may not be reported as a program in an electronic programguide.

Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment”, “certainembodiments”, “an embodiment”, “an example”, “an implementation” orsimilar terms means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment, example orimplementation is included in at least one embodiment, example orimplementation of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of suchphrases or in various places throughout this specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment, example orimplementation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments, examples or implementations without limitation.

The term “or” as used herein is to be interpreted as an inclusive ormeaning any one or any combination. Therefore, “A, B or C” means “any ofthe following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C”. Anexception to this definition will occur only when a combination ofelements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutuallyexclusive.

As previously noted, the issues surrounding how to deal with a UI when atelevision display or the like is displaying stereoscopic display hasnot been explored to any known extent. FIG. 1 depicts a stereoscopicdisplay panel 100 of any suitable design that taken as a view fromabove. The illustration shows that by using stereoscopy technology, anillusion can be created wherein one can appear to see objects that areeither situated behind the plane of the screen 100 with varying depths−ve such as object 104, or may appear to see objects such as 108 thatare situated in front of the screen with varying depths +ve, or maystraddle the plane of screen 100 such as object 112 so as to appear tohave a depth that spans a distance from somewhere on the −ve scale tosomewhere on the +ve scale. In the scale depicted, −ve represents thespace behind the plane of screen 100 relative to the viewer's positionand +ve represents the space in front of the screen 100 relative to theviewer's position.

In order to solve the problem identified above, the UI is placed on adepth plane that does not interfere with the content. To realize thisthere should be knowledge of the depth of objects in the content. Thereare at least two methods to acquire this depth information, as will bediscussed later.

In view of the three dimensional illusion created by the stereoscopicdisplay, when one interposes a user interface into the displayed image,there can be a problem with the user having a comfortable interaction ofUI and content on the stereoscopic display. Referring to FIG. 2, nowconsider what happens if a two dimensional UI image 120 is juxtaposedinto the three dimensional image at the point indicated. In this case,the depth of objects 108 and 112 may either overlay or underlay or crossthe boundary of the two dimensional UI 120's apparent location in theimage. This could result in a user's inability to properly utilize theUI, the UI being partially or fully obscured or other inconvenient oruncomfortable interaction between the two dimensional and threedimensional images and user dissatisfaction.

In accord with embodiments generally consistent with implementations ofthe present invention, the problem can be resolved by assuring that, asdepicted in FIG. 3, at all times the input images are transformed intoimages wherein the UI 120 is situated at a position within the apparentthree dimensional depth of the displayed image which is closer to theviewer (has a greater value of +ve) than any portion of the threedimensional image. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. Asdepicted in FIG. 3, the plane of the UI 120 is juxtaposed at a positionwhich is closer than the images in the three dimensional image, withoutaltering the three dimensional image. However, this may not always bepossible or comfortable for the viewer.

As depicted in FIG. 4, one solution to this problem is to place theplane of the two dimensional UI at a depth position that is comfortablefor general viewing by the viewer, while moving the relative positionsof the three dimensional objects further backward (more negative −ve) inthe direction of the arrow. As a part of this process, the span fromclosest object to farthest object from the viewer may be retained orcompressed/scaled as desired so as to transform the images into imagesthat can be positioned as described. In one implementation, the scalingcan be carried out by leaving the rearmost position intact andproportionally moving the image elements in front of the rearmostportion backward. In this case, the foremost position is placed farenough back to permit insertion of the secondary image (UI) in front,and the relative position of intermediate objects is scaledproportionally. However, other scaling and compressing methods willoccur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the presentteachings.

This process can also be extended to usage on a two dimensional imagedisplayed on a stereoscopic display along with a two dimensional UI asdepicted in FIG. 5. In this case, as in the case of three dimensionalcontent, the relative position of the two dimensional UI 120 can beplaced at a position in the three dimensional illusion which is closerto the user than a two dimensional image 130. While this depiction showsthe two dimensional image 130 being in −ve depth and the UI being in the+ve depth, this is only to be considered illustrative. This onlyconsideration is that the UI be placed closer to the viewer in theillusion than the video image.

As a further example, it is possible for the UI to be represented as athree dimensional object as shown in FIG. 6 as UI 140 which has varyingdepth and which is positioned in front of the two dimensional image 130displayed on the stereoscopic display panel 100. It will be evident thatone can also place a three dimensional UI such as 140 in front of athree dimensional image such as the image containing 104, 108 and 112.

To realize this solution, there should be knowledge of the depth ofobjects in the content. There are at least two methods to acquire thisdepth information, but any suitable method is satisfactory for purposesof implementation of embodiments consistent with the present invention.

In accord with a first method, the depth information can be embedded asmetadata with the data representing the three dimensional content. Inthis case, the display system has merely to read the metadata (which canbe a global range of depth, or may be on a scene by scene, segment bysegment, or frame by frame basis) and select a depth value that iscloser to the viewer than the closest object for positioning the UI.

In accord with a second method, a system is in place, which uses eithera hardware or software based system, that analyzes the depth of thecontent, either in real time as the content is played or as an offlineprocess to determine the depth of the content.

In this manner, secondary content such as UI information can be placedsuch that its depth plane does not interfere with the front most depthplane of the primary content. As noted above, the primary content can be2D or stereoscopic and the secondary content (e.g., a UI) can also beeither 2D or stereoscopic. The primary and secondary content can bevideo, still images or user interface (UI) without limitation.

Such placement of the relative depth of content or UIs on a stereoscopicdisplay can thus be accomplished in such a way that there is no depthplane interference between the various sources of content. With theabove noted embodiments, the use of depth meta-data or calculated depthinformation is used to make decisions regarding the relative depthplacement of content or UIs on a stereoscopic display and to makedeterminations as to the need for compression of the depth of theprimary content. In a transition (on/off or selection) the change indepth can be a dynamic change.

It is also contemplated that In each case the UI could be replaced witha picture-in-picture (PIP) image for multiple source views. It is alsopossible to modify the depth characteristics of stereoscopic content toallow the content to be moved backwards in depth allowing safe placementof other content in front of it, as noted above.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a process 200 is depicted which contemplateseither of the two implementations described above or both starting at204. At 208 and 212, the primary and secondary content are receivedrespectively. This could be an advance receipt of the content or acontinuous and substantially parallel flow. In the case of the UI, thesecondary content is generated at the display device or an associatedpiece of hardware (e.g., a personal video recorder (PVR), A/V receiver,disc player, etc.). In any case, at 216, a determination is made as tothe depth characteristics of the primary content. If the primary contentis two dimensional, the determination may be near trivial, butotherwise, the depth of the primary content can be made either by aprocess of simply reading metadata associated with the primary contentat 220, or by carrying out an analysis of the primary content todetermine its depth at 224.

The depth of any content in a stereoscopic display can be ascertained byan analysis of the features of the images of the display. Images usedfor creation of the stereoscopic illusion are placed on the display insuch a manner so that right eye and left eye images are similar butseparated by a space which correlates to the depth. Colors orpolarization of the images is used to maintain distinction between theleft and right eye images, with corresponding colors or polarizationused with viewing glasses so as to keep the images separated at the eyesof the viewer. The depth analysis is thus similar to that which would beused in creation of the three dimensional images to place those imageson the display. When images are places in relative positions on thescreen, but with opposite polarization or color filtering, this can bedetected and the reverse calculation carried out to find the foremostimage in the primary content.

In a similar manner, the depth of the secondary content may bedetermined (if not trivial or generated at the display so that the depthcan be known or controlled) at 228. At this point, the relative depthsof the primary and secondary content are known, and the display simplyshifts the secondary content to a position that is believed to be infront of the primary content. However, in the event there is still anoverlap due to excess depth of either primary content, secondary contentor both, or if the secondary content would have to be placed at a depththat would be considered uncomfortable for viewing or comfortable use at232, then, either the primary or secondary content or both can be scaledin depth so that the transformed images can be positioned so as toeliminate the overlap at 236. Once there is no overlap in the content,either at 232 or 236, the content is presented for display on thedisplay at 240 and the process cycles back as new content is received to208.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a simplified functional block diagram of asystem 300 for accomplishing the processes described previously isdepicted. In this system, a transport stream 302 received from a cable,satellite, telco, video disc or other source or sources is shown as 302and is provided to a demultiplexer 306 that sorts out the contentaccording to the viewer's tuning commands. The content received via 302can include only primary content, or may include secondary content,either of which can be rendered using the stereoscopic display panel. Aspreviously noted, the content (primary and/or secondary) may containmetadata that define the depth information for the content. If so, thismetadata are stored in a metadata database 310. The primary content (andif present, the secondary content) is sent to a 3D depth analyzer 314which either carries out an analysis to determine the depth informationor ascertains the information from the metadata stored in the database310. If the secondary content is UI information, the UI information isreceived at the depth analyzer 314 from a UI graphics engine 318(possibly including depth information if the UI is represented as threedimensional). The 3D depth analyzer determines the relative depth of theimages and passes the images and associated depth to a 3D depthscaler/compressor 322 where, if necessary to avoid overlap of theimages, one or the other or both of the primary and secondary images canbe compressed or scaled to occupy less perceived depth in order totransform the image representations into images that can be positionedas described. The images are then passed to the primary/secondarypositioner (image positioner) 326 where the relative locations of theimage are transformed so that the secondary image is positioned in frontof the primary image (between the primary image and the viewer) inperceived depth of the 3D image. This combined image can then be passedto the display drivers 330 for display on stereoscopic display 310.

The functional blocks shown in 300 are intended to represent processesthat can be carried out either as hardware functions or as softwarefunctions running on one or more programmed processors to transform theprimary and secondary images into images that do not interfere with oneanother such that the secondary image is always disposed in perceiveddepth to be between the primary image and the viewer. The variousfunctions described can be carried out in the arrangement shown, or canbe rearranged with various functions combined in any manner thatproduces this desired output without limitation.

In addition to the above, it is noted that a viewer obtains clues to thedepth of an object when viewed in three dimensions in addition to thoseobtained by stereoscopic cues. Hence, in addition to use ofstereoscopical placement of an object in front of another object inorder to achieve the desired results discussed above, othernon-stereoscopic visual clues can be used to modify a front or rearimage to assure that objects in front are or objects of most importance(e.g., menu selections from a GUI) are emphasized. Such clues include,but are not limited to: desaturation of the rear image; defocusing therear image; and reducing the brightness of the rear image. The oppositeeffects could be added to the front image to enhance its prominence.Other such visual clues will be evident to those skilled in the art uponconsideration of the present teachings.

Thus, a method of positioning primary and secondary images on astereoscopic display device involves receiving primary and secondaryimage data representing primary and secondary images for simultaneousdisplay on a stereoscopic display panel, wherein at least one of theprimary and secondary image data represents three dimensionalstereoscopic image data; ascertaining a perceived depth of the primaryimage; ascertaining a perceived depth of the secondary image; whereascertaining the perceived depth of at least one of the primary imageand the secondary image is carried out by either reading metadataassociated with at least one of the primary and secondary image, or bycarrying out a depth analysis of the at least one of the primary imageand secondary image data; transforming the perceived depth of at leastone of the primary and secondary image data by compressing the perceiveddepth of the at least one of the primary and secondary image data; andtransforming at least one of the primary and secondary image data so asto position the perceived secondary image at a position that will beperceived by a viewer to be situated at a depth when viewed on thestereoscopic display such that the secondary image appears to besituated fully between the primary image and the viewer when viewedstereoscopically.

In certain implementations, the secondary image comprises user interfacegraphics. In certain implementations, the method further involvestransforming the primary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the primary image to be further away from a viewerposition. In certain implementations, the method further involvestransforming the secondary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the secondary image to be closer to a viewerposition. In certain implementations, the method further involvesapplying a non-stereoscopic visual modification to one of the primaryand secondary image. In certain implementations, the non-stereoscopicvisual modification comprises at least one of defocusing, desaturatingand reducing the brightness of one of the primary and secondary images.

Another method of positioning primary and secondary images on astereoscopic display device involves receiving primary and secondaryimage data representing primary and secondary images for simultaneousdisplay on a stereoscopic display panel; ascertaining a perceived depthof the primary image; ascertaining a perceived depth of the secondaryimage; and transforming at least one of the primary and secondary imagedata so as to position the perceived secondary image at a position thatwill be perceived by a viewer to be situated at a depth when viewed onthe stereoscopic display such that the secondary image appears to besituated fully between the primary image and the viewer when viewedstereoscopically.

In certain implementations, at least one of the primary and secondaryimage data represents three dimensional stereoscopic image data. Incertain implementations, ascertaining the perceived depth of at leastone of the primary image and the secondary image is carried out byreading metadata associated with at least one of the primary andsecondary image. In certain implementations, ascertaining the perceiveddepth of at least one of the primary image and the secondary image iscarried out by carrying out a depth analysis of the at least one of theprimary image and secondary image data. In certain implementations, thesecondary image comprises user interface graphics. In certainimplementations, the method further involves transforming the perceiveddepth of at least one of the primary and secondary image data bycompressing the perceived depth of the at least one of the primary andsecondary image data. In certain implementations, the method furtherinvolves transforming the primary image data to a position that rendersthe perceived image of the primary image to be further away from aviewer position. In certain implementations, the method further involvestransforming the secondary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the secondary image to be closer to a viewerposition. In certain implementations, the method further involvesapplying a non-stereoscopic visual modification to one of the primaryand secondary. In certain implementations, the non-stereoscopic visualmodification comprises at least one of defocusing, desaturating andreducing the brightness of one of the primary and secondary images.

Any of the above-described methods can be implemented using a computerreadable electronic storage medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted on one or more programmed processors, carry out such method.

A system for positioning primary and secondary images on a stereoscopicdisplay device has a demultiplexer primary and secondary image datarepresenting primary and secondary images for simultaneous display on astereoscopic display panel, wherein at least one of the primary andsecondary image data represents three dimensional stereoscopic imagedata. A 3D depth analyzer ascertains a perceived depth of the primaryimage and ascertains a perceived depth of the secondary image, whereascertaining the perceived depth of at least one of the primary imageand the secondary image is carried out by either reading metadataassociated with at least one of the primary and secondary image from ametadata database, or by carrying out a depth analysis of the at leastone of the primary image and secondary image data. A 3D depth scalertransforms the perceived depth of at least one of the primary andsecondary image data by compressing the perceived depth of the at leastone of the primary and secondary image data. An image positionertransforms at least one of the primary and secondary image data so as toposition the perceived secondary image at a position that will beperceived by a viewer to be situated at a depth when viewed on thestereoscopic display such that the secondary image appears to besituated fully between the primary image and the viewer when viewedstereoscopically.

In certain implementations, the secondary image comprises user interfacegraphics. In certain implementations, the image positioner furthertransforms the primary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the primary image to be further away from a viewerposition. In certain implementations, the image positioner furthertransforms the secondary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the secondary image to be closer to a viewerposition. In certain implementations, a non-stereoscopic visualmodification is applied to the primary image to visually deemphasize theprimary image. In certain implementations, the non-stereoscopic visualmodification comprises at least one of defocusing, desaturating andreducing the brightness of the primary image.

A system for of positioning primary and secondary images on astereoscopic display device has a demultiplexer that receives primaryand secondary image data representing primary and secondary images forsimultaneous display on a stereoscopic display panel. A 3D depthanalyzer ascertains a perceived depth of the primary image andascertains a perceived depth of the secondary image. An image positionertransforms at least one of the primary and secondary image data so as toposition the perceived secondary image at a position that will beperceived by a viewer to be situated at a depth when viewed on thestereoscopic display such that the secondary image appears to besituated fully between the primary image and the viewer when viewedstereoscopically.

In certain implementations, at least one of the primary and secondaryimage data represents three dimensional stereoscopic image data. Incertain implementations, the 3D depth analyzer ascertains the perceiveddepth of at least one of the primary image and the secondary image byreading metadata associated with at least one of the primary andsecondary image. In certain implementations, the 3D depth analyzerascertains the perceived depth of at least one of the primary image andthe secondary image by carrying out a depth analysis of the at least oneof the primary image and secondary image data. In certainimplementations, the secondary image comprises user interface graphics.In certain implementations, a 3D depth scaler transforms the perceiveddepth of at least one of the primary and secondary image data bycompressing the perceived depth of the at least one of the primary andsecondary image data. In certain implementations, the image positionertransforms the primary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the primary image to be further away from a viewerposition. In certain implementations, the image positioner furthertransforms the secondary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the secondary image to be closer to a viewer positionIn certain implementations, a non-stereoscopic visual modification tothe primary image. In certain implementations, the non-stereoscopicvisual modification comprises at least one of defocusing, desaturatingand reducing the brightness of the primary image.

Those skilled in the art will recognize, upon consideration of the aboveteachings, that certain of the above exemplary embodiments may be basedupon use of a programmed processor. However, the invention is notlimited to such exemplary embodiments, since other embodiments could beimplemented using hardware component equivalents such as special purposehardware and/or dedicated processors. Similarly, general purposecomputers, microprocessor based computers, micro-controllers, opticalcomputers, analog computers, dedicated processors, application specificcircuits and/or dedicated hard wired logic may be used to constructalternative equivalent embodiments.

Certain embodiments described herein, are or may be implemented using aprogrammed processor executing programming instructions that are broadlydescribed above in flow chart form that can be stored on any suitableelectronic or computer readable storage medium. However, those skilledin the art will appreciate, upon consideration of the present teaching,that the processes described above can be implemented in any number ofvariations and in many suitable programming languages without departingfrom embodiments of the present invention. For example, the order ofcertain operations carried out can often be varied, additionaloperations can be added or operations can be deleted without departingfrom certain embodiments of the invention. Error trapping can be addedand/or enhanced and variations can be made in user interface andinformation presentation without departing from certain embodiments ofthe present invention. Such variations are contemplated and consideredequivalent.

While certain illustrative embodiments have been described, it isevident that many alternatives, modifications, permutations andvariations will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light ofthe foregoing description.

1. A method of positioning primary and secondary images on astereoscopic display device, comprising: receiving primary and secondaryimage data representing primary and secondary images for simultaneousdisplay on a stereoscopic display panel, wherein at least one of theprimary and secondary image data represents three dimensionalstereoscopic image data; ascertaining a perceived depth of the primaryimage; ascertaining a perceived depth of the secondary image; whereascertaining the perceived depth of at least one of the primary imageand the secondary image is carried out by either reading metadataassociated with at least one of the primary and secondary image, or bycarrying out a depth analysis of the at least one of the primary imageand secondary image data; transforming the perceived depth of at leastone of the primary and secondary image data by compressing the perceiveddepth of the at least one of the primary and secondary image data; andtransforming at least one of the primary and secondary image data so asto position the perceived secondary image at a position that will beperceived by a viewer to be situated at a depth when viewed on thestereoscopic display such that the secondary image appears to besituated fully between the primary image and the viewer when viewedstereoscopically.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein thesecondary image comprises user interface graphics.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising transforming the primary imagedata to a position that renders the perceived image of the primary imageto be further away from a viewer position.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising transforming the secondary image data to aposition that renders the perceived image of the secondary image to becloser to a viewer position.
 5. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising applying a non-stereoscopic visual modification to one of theprimary and secondary image.
 6. The method according to claim 5, whereinthe non-stereoscopic visual modification comprises at least one ofdefocusing, desaturating and reducing the brightness of one of theprimary and secondary images.
 7. A method of positioning primary andsecondary images on a stereoscopic display device, comprising: receivingprimary and secondary image data representing primary and secondaryimages for simultaneous display on a stereoscopic display panel;ascertaining a perceived depth of the primary image; ascertaining aperceived depth of the secondary image; and transforming at least one ofthe primary and secondary image data so as to position the perceivedsecondary image at a position that will be perceived by a viewer to besituated at a depth when viewed on the stereoscopic display such thatthe secondary image appears to be situated fully between the primaryimage and the viewer when viewed stereoscopically.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein at least one of the primary and secondaryimage data represents three dimensional stereoscopic image data.
 9. Themethod according to claim 7, wherein ascertaining the perceived depth ofat least one of the primary image and the secondary image is carried outby reading metadata associated with at least one of the primary andsecondary image.
 10. The method according to claim 7, whereinascertaining the perceived depth of at least one of the primary imageand the secondary image is carried out by carrying out a depth analysisof the at least one of the primary image and secondary image data. 11.The method according to claim 7, wherein the secondary image comprisesuser interface graphics.
 12. The method according to claim 7, furthercomprising transforming the perceived depth of at least one of theprimary and secondary image data by compressing the perceived depth ofthe at least one of the primary and secondary image data.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 7, further comprising transforming the primary imagedata to a position that renders the perceived image of the primary imageto be further away from a viewer position.
 14. The method according toclaim 7, further comprising transforming the secondary image data to aposition that renders the perceived image of the secondary image to becloser to a viewer position.
 15. The method according to claim 7,further comprising applying a non-stereoscopic visual modification toone of the primary and secondary.
 16. The method according to claim 15,wherein the non-stereoscopic visual modification comprises at least oneof defocusing, desaturating and reducing the brightness of one of theprimary and secondary images.
 17. A computer readable electronic storagemedium storing instructions which, when executed on one or moreprogrammed processors, carry out a method according to claim
 7. 18. Asystem for positioning primary and secondary images on a stereoscopicdisplay device, comprising: a demultiplexer primary and secondary imagedata representing primary and secondary images for simultaneous displayon a stereoscopic display panel, wherein at least one of the primary andsecondary image data represents three dimensional stereoscopic imagedata; a 3D depth analyzer that ascertains a perceived depth of theprimary image and ascertains a perceived depth of the secondary image,where ascertaining the perceived depth of at least one of the primaryimage and the secondary image is carried out by either reading metadataassociated with at least one of the primary and secondary image from ametadata database, or by carrying out a depth analysis of the at leastone of the primary image and secondary image data; a 3D depth scalerthat transforms the perceived depth of at least one of the primary andsecondary image data by compressing the perceived depth of the at leastone of the primary and secondary image data; and an image positionerthat transforms at least one of the primary and secondary image data soas to position the perceived secondary image at a position that will beperceived by a viewer to be situated at a depth when viewed on thestereoscopic display such that the secondary image appears to besituated fully between the primary image and the viewer when viewedstereoscopically.
 19. The system according to claim 18, wherein thesecondary image comprises user interface graphics.
 20. The systemaccording to claim 18, wherein the image positioner further transformsthe primary image data to a position that renders the perceived image ofthe primary image to be further away from a viewer position.
 21. Thesystem according to claim 18, where the image positioner furthertransforms the secondary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the secondary image to be closer to a viewerposition.
 22. The system according to claim 18, wherein anon-stereoscopic visual modification is applied to the primary image tovisually deemphasize the primary image.
 23. The system according toclaim 22, wherein the non-stereoscopic visual modification comprises atleast one of defocusing, desaturating and reducing the brightness of theprimary image.
 24. A system for of positioning primary and secondaryimages on a stereoscopic display device, comprising: a demultiplexerthat receives primary and secondary image data representing primary andsecondary images for simultaneous display on a stereoscopic displaypanel; a 3D depth analyzer that ascertains a perceived depth of theprimary image and ascertains a perceived depth of the secondary image;an image positioner that transforms at least one of the primary andsecondary image data so as to position the perceived secondary image ata position that will be perceived by a viewer to be situated at a depthwhen viewed on the stereoscopic display such that the secondary imageappears to be situated fully between the primary image and the viewerwhen viewed stereoscopically.
 25. The system according to claim 24,wherein at least one of the primary and secondary image data representsthree dimensional stereoscopic image data.
 26. The system according toclaim 24, wherein the 3D depth analyzer ascertains the perceived depthof at least one of the primary image and the secondary image by readingmetadata associated with at least one of the primary and secondaryimage.
 27. The system according to claim 24, wherein the 3D depthanalyzer ascertains the perceived depth of at least one of the primaryimage and the secondary image by carrying out a depth analysis of the atleast one of the primary image and secondary image data.
 28. The systemaccording to claim 24, wherein the secondary image comprises userinterface graphics.
 29. The system according to claim 24, furthercomprising a 3D depth scaler that transforms the perceived depth of atleast one of the primary and secondary image data by compressing theperceived depth of the at least one of the primary and secondary imagedata.
 30. The system according to claim 24, where the image positionertransforms the primary image data to a position that renders theperceived image of the primary image to be further away from a viewerposition.
 31. The system according to claim 24, where the imagepositioner further transforms the secondary image data to a positionthat renders the perceived image of the secondary image to be closer toa viewer position.
 32. The system according to claim 24, wherein anon-stereoscopic visual modification to the primary image.
 33. Themethod according to claim 32, wherein the non-stereoscopic visualmodification comprises at least one of defocusing, desaturating andreducing the brightness of the primary image.